This blog replaces the earlier archives I had posted on the Internet and includes various memos sent to the clients of the VitaminLawyer.com (now the Vitamin Consultancy). It includes archived copies of memos from 2004 through 2007 and subsequent memos will be posted as they are issued.

Friday, February 9, 2007

02/09/07 - FTC enforcement... Situational Selling

02.09.07 - VITAMIN LAWYER UPDATE e-MEMO

The purpose of the ...VLUeM e-memo is to update the Vitamin Lawyer and Vitamin Lawyer News web sites for my contacts and client list. You got on this e-list by opting in or becoming a client of the Vitamin Lawyer.com Consultancy. If you want to be taken off the list, please “reply” to this email with the word “remove” in the subject line. On the other hand, you are welcomed to forward this to your own eList… ;)
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This issue focuses on two areas: (1) FTC plans to police the vitamin market and (2) some more tips from Entire Web.

“2/8/2007 - The Federal Trade Commission has said that it will continue to prioritize policing dietary supplement marketing practices, thereby sending out a warning to companies making exaggerated or unsubstantiated claims. .

“The deceptive marketing of products that may affect consumer health and safety will continue to be an FTC priority,” said the FTC in its budget request summary submitted to Congress on February 5. “The FTC will focus on health care products, including dietary supplements.”

“The authority rang in the New Year with a $25m-clamp-down on parties behind the deceptive marketing of four major weight-control supplements: Xenadrine EFX, CortiSlim, TrimSpa, and One-A-Day WeightSmart. [The Vitamin Lawyer notes: none of my clients!] . . .

“Going forward, the FTC will continue its aggressive program by focusing its law enforcement on violations that create the greatest risks to consumer health.” . . .

“. . . [R]eally good salespeople are trained to discover details about the customer before trying to pitch a particular item. A question like, "Hi, how are you? What sport do you play?" is a great opening line. It gets the customer to focus on a general topic, and then persuades him or her to narrow down the choices. And a focused customer is a buyer, not a browser.

“What does this have to do with your online sales? Plenty. Especially if you'd like to increase your conversion by 50 percent or more.

“You see, if you focus just on increasing traffic without increasing your profit per visitor, well, you're missing out on more money. Or more e-mail opt-ins. Or whatever it is that you do to monetize your site. Fewer clicks and more sales should always be the goal. You'll improve those two metrics when your site successfully gets visitors to focus right away on the homepage and then proceed directly to checkout.

“That's where the "situational sell" can be your super-cybersalesperson. On a website, you can give visitors a few choices that best describe their situation, and entice them to click on the description that puts them into a specific segment of the market.

“The situational sell is a way to pitch products and information strictly from the customer's point of view. If you're selling sports merchandise online, you would want to get customers to click on their favorite team right away, and then choose the item they want to buy. … Think of the situational sell as pre-qualifying your visitors, before they get a chance to wander aimlessly through your site. If you pre-qualify them, you can funnel them through the sales process a lot faster.

“One traffic school website who tried this tactic ended up increasing its email opt-ins by a whopping 60 percent! How did they do it? Instead of simply listing the names of the courses it offers, the website asks visitors what type of driver they are, literally. On the site you'll see 3 boxes in a row in the main body area. Each box contains a unique headline, a photo to illustrate the idea, and a description of services within the category.

“Box #1 contains the headline "New Driver?" and includes a picture of teenagers laughing and hanging out in a school parking lot. Box #2 carries the headline "Too Many Tickets?" and includes a picture of a driver getting a ticket. Finally, Box #3 has the headline "Trying to pass the state exam?" along with a picture of a recent immigrant holding paperwork.

“Under the headlines, a series of links appear. This is also a great place to include your top-tier keywords. Once a visitor clicks on one of those links, he or she is guided to a page specifically geared to sell products or services to their demographic

“The beauty in setting up a 'situational sell' website is that it's a very flexible way to market one type of product to a wide selection of site visitors.

“If you're selling e-books or informational products, there will be different features or advantages that you'll want to highlight, depending on the visitor. By segmenting your visitors first on your homepage, you can funnel them to specialized pitches.

“The situational sell sounds logical because it is logical. But in the day-to-day minutia of maintaining a website, the big details sometimes get lost in the shuffle. Take a fresh look at your homepage and give your visitors a fresh perspective. Try the situational sell. It will make your visitors comfortable, they'll feel as if you already understand their point of view, and you'll most likely be rewarded with higher conversions.”

I am happy to be able to bring you Diane Metz’ interesting piece on Situational Selling. I think it is a useful marketing concept that can help you design a stronger web site. The great genius of the Internet is its ability to connect people and information. The more you are able to link the right people with the right product the more likely you are to have a sale. So good luck on your web site optimization!

About Me

The Vitamin Conslutancy - www.vitaminconsultancy.com -- I practiced law for 36 years in NJ (1971 - 2006), gaining a reputation as The Vitamin Lawyer, representing people in the Natural Products, Dietary Supplements and CAM (Complementary and Alternative Modalities) fields. Now I provide educational services and I consult with lawyers and other professionals, formulators, manufacturers and purveyors of natural and nutritional products, as well as with CAM enterprises and practitioners.
I started these blogs to comment on health and freedom issues and to provide an archive of information for my clients and associates. This is a private expressive association communication.
I have been a trustee of several NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) including the Natural Solutions Foundation - globalhealthfreedom.org - Institute for Health Research - inhere.org - Sound Health Research Institute - soundhealthresearch.org and LifeSpirit Church - lifespirit.org